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Dj Platurn Interview

One of the Bay Area’s finest, DJ Platurn is preparing to hit our shores for his first ever Australian tour, which will feature a special guest spot spinning at next week’s monster Sneaker Freaker Issue 18 launch. Bringing his lifelong love and studious knowledge of music in all its eclectic forms, plus wax goodies from some of the deepest crates going around, a Platurn party is one date you don’t want to miss. We caught up with the man of the moment for the lo-down on life, his work and his crew, The Oakland Faders.

Yo Platurn, give us a quick run down on who you is, where you from, what you do and how you started out in the DJ bidness!My name is DJ Platurn and I be 6'6". I originate from every current world traveler's favorite little ash spewer, Iceland. I do me, plain and simple. I also keeps it funky! I got started in the biz in '94 but have been around records since I was a kid - pops was a DJ back in the motherland so there was constant music around me since birth. I got started in the mid-90's DJ scene in the Bay Area when it was practically impossible to not want to scratch a record if you loved rap music.

You’re known for your sample heavy mixtapes – just how much do you hone your skills and how hard is it to dig for samples now that so many stores are closing?At this stage the way I best hone my skills is by meticulously crafting my DJ sets into what I consider little stories - take you on a trip through a lot of places you never knew you wanted to go. It's how I piece together my mixes and always did my tapes back in the day. The diggin' game is very different now more than ever - if you want to impress other record dorks like yourself you gotta dig pretty deep. The stores closing is an issue but it's also up to us to make sure it doesn't happen. I still buy records every week and so should all of you :)You’ve been a full time DJ for a whiles now and refreshingly, you manage yourself – how has that been on top of working and managing the Oakland Faders?A lot of work. I always say that you only get out of this biz (and life) as much as you put into it. Hustle is imperative but you have to do it with taste. Myself and the Faders don't compromise who we are musically, which garners us a lot of respect but is not always easy in a commercially driven market. I enjoy it to the fullest tho - I love music and my crew and what we do.

Give us a run down of your crew Oakland Faders – you guys Spair, Enki and yourself are very similar in your style of music, yet artistically very different…Do you rock the spot together much?We play together in the Bay quite a bit but two of the Faders don't live in Cali and a few of the crew are more producer/studio driven cats. We just had a photo shoot the other day and I think it was the first time all eight Faders were in the same place - ha! The thing about my crew is that we showcase a lot of versatility, from production to engineering and party rockin' to radio stuff - we do it all and do it well.

You’re on your way Downunder for a nice lil’ tour – ever been to these parts before?Never been but have been trying for quite a while. Doing a gig in Malaysia before I hit your shores so I took the opportunity to make it down. Big ups to Damo Diggler - he's been a homie for a while. Looking forward to it in a big way!

What are you looking forward to doing while you’re in our sunny shores (fingers crossed it’ll be sunny for ya!)Food, diggin' for some OG Australian wax and hopefully getting to check out a bit of the countryside. Any tips on relatively easily accessible areas not too far outside of Melbourne or Sydney would be great - thx in advance :)

We’re lucky to have you bust out a killer special guest set at Sneaker Freaker’s Issue 18 launch – what can the heads expect?You can expect a versatile set of old and new joints, a whole lot of DJ nonsense and maybe some new routines and exclusive blends and edits for the Melbourne crowd. Rest assured all of it will be funky!

What kicks will you be dusting off to break necks with – or is it more about the music hahaha!It's always all about the music but you might catch me rockin' my personalized Platurn dunks - we'll have to see ;)

Tell us what’s cracking off for you in 2010 – I hear rumours you’ll be finally completing part 2 of the So This Is De La Heaven mixtape (jumps for joy!)…Indeed, the De La Heaven mix will be out later this year with a Maseo blessing to boot. Dropping an 80s remix EP with Kat O1O from Crown City Rockers this summer and more projects with the Faders (Blendapella V.2 with Enki and some others as well). I'm constantly working on remixes and edits so you can always stay tuned for those. Check out djplaturn.com for updates.

If you could freak anything, what would it be?People's reception of what good music is. It would be an amazing day when folks went back to enjoying good music for what it is and making their mind up on their own about it instead of just going with what's hot or being fed to them via TV or radio. Music is so much deeper than an mp3 in your iPod and can be enjoyed on a much deeper level if you open your mind to it.